Spring tongs



Oct. 30, 1956 WRIGHT 2,768,856

SPRING TONGS Filed Aug. 10, 1955 INVENTOR. HELEN L. WRIGHT AT TOR/V5)United States Patent SPRING TONGS Helen L. Wright, San Francisco, Calif.

Application August 10, 1953, Serial No. 373,154

3 Claims. (Cl. 29499) This invention relates to spring tongs.

The primary object of the invention is to provide spring-tongs which areparticularly adapted to use as a kitchen tong; and particularly whichhas at the end of the arms opposite claws and gripping forceps for agreat variety of uses in the kitchen, for instance, for holding andlifting hot dishes and lids, for picking up hot foods such as potatoesor eggs or other food, lifting articles out of harmful liquids, or forholding therein a dishcloth or sponge for washing and cleaning purposes,and many other uses.

I am aware that some changes may be made in the general arrangements andcombinations of the several devices and parts, as well as in the detailsof the construction thereof without departing from the scope of thepresent invention as set forth in the following specification, and asdefined in the following claims; hence I do not limit my invention tothe exact arrangements and combinations of the said device and parts asdescribed in the said specification, nor do I confine myself to theexact detals of the construction of the said parts as iilustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be mademanifest in the following detailed description, reference is had to theaccompanying drawings for the illustrative embodiment of the invention,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the spring-tongs.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the spring-tongs.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the lines 3-3 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmental view of the closed end of a modified form of myspring-tongs.

In the preferred embodiment herein the spring-tongs of my inventioninclude a pair of arms 1 connected at one end by a bow spring 2 whichnormally urges the free ends of the arms apart from one another to openposition. An end jaw 3 is formed on the free end of each arm 1. Grippingflanges 4 are formed on the opposite edges of the arms 1 near said jaws3. A clamping element, such as a ring 5, is provided slidably over theoutside of the arms for the purpose of holding the arms together in anyselected gripping position.

Each jaw 3 is formed by the bending of an end portion of the arm 1inwardly, or toward the other arm, and by forming in the free edge ofeach bent portion or jaw a plurality of gripping teeth 6. The teeth 6 onthe respective opposite jaws 3 are offset or staggered with respect toone another so that the teeth of the opposite jaws 3 interlock in theclosed position. Each tooth 6 is also bent inwardly of the tongs so asto prevent the overlapping of the jaws and thereby to obviate the escapeof the ring over the jaw end. The jaws 3 are so proportioned as to holdthe arms 1 divergent toward the jaw ends even when the jaws 3 are closedtogether.

2,768,856 Patented Oct. 30, 1956 Each arm 1 is made of sheet materialsuch as sheet metal and the longitudinal edges thereof are bent inwardlyof the tongs so as to form side flanges 7. In other words, each arm isof generally U-shaped cross section and its middle strip is so dishedthat it has superior strength and rigidity in spite of the comparativelythin material.

The flanges 7 are near the outer ends of the arms 1 and near the jaw 3and are suitably scalloped so as to form a series of prongs or teeth 8facing inwardly of the tongs. The arrangement of the scalloping is suchthat each series of teeth 8 is on a generally arcuate line which isdeeper or spaced from the opposite teeth further in the middle of theseries of teeth 8 than at the respective ends of said series. This alsopermits greater variety of and more convenient gripping arrangement forlifting hot food articles, fruit jars and the like.

The bow spring 2 herein may be made of a separate unit and secured tothe converging ends of the arms 1 as shown in Fig. 1, or the bow spring9 may be inserted in an integral bow part 10 of the arms. The bow spring2 or 9 is so bent as to normally urge the free ends of the arms 1 apart.

The invention is simple in construction. it does not require anyparticular adjustment when an article is gripped firmly; the ring orclamp 5 can be pushed over the arms 1 to a location where it fixes thegrip; and in all respects the device is eminently adapted for itspurposes.

I claim:

1. In a pair of universal kitchen tongs, a pair of arms, bow springconnecting said arms at one end so as to normally urge the other ends ofthe arms apart from one another, opposite jaws formed on the free endsof said arms extending inwardly from said ends of the arms, rows offlanged teeth in a parallel series along opposite edges of said arms,said series of teeth being arranged on an are for variable spacingbetween the opposite teeth along the length of the opposite series.

2. In a pair of universal kitchen tongs, a pair of arms,

bow spring connecting said arms at one end so as to.

normally urge the other ends of the arms apart from one another,opposite jaws formed on the free ends of said arms extending inwardlyfrom said ends of the arms, rows of flanged teeth in a parallel seriesalong opposite edges of said arms, said series of teeth being arrangedon an are for variable spacing between the opposite teeth along thelength of the opposite series, and releasable clamping means to holdsaid arms in gripping position.

3. In a pair of universal kitchen tongs, a pair of arms, bow springconnecting said arms at one end so as to normally urge the other ends ofthe arms apart from one another, opposite jaws formed on the free endsof said arms extending inwardly from said ends of the arms, and a seriesof flange teeth provided on each edge of each arm longitudinallyadjacent to the free end thereof, teeth on the meeting edges of saidjaws being bentinwardly between said arms to prevent overlapping of saidjaws and normally to space the free ends of said arms diverging towardsaid jaws.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,417,619 Male May 30, 1922 2,429,444 Yett Oct. 21, 1947 2,532,406Jernigan Dec. 5, 1950

